Knowledge management processes in practice: Empirical insights from the public sector

Knowledge management can be regarded as a holistic and systematic process that integrates technology and human aspects to enable organizations to achieve their goals. Knowledge management promises many benefits both for the private and public sector organizations when operationalized successfully. In the context of public sector, it is possible - at least in theory - to make more informed decisions, to serve the citizens better and to use resources more effectively through knowledge management. Thus, it is not a surprise that many public organizations have started to develop their knowledge management processes. However, knowledge management faces in practice plenty of challenges in the context of public sector. The aim of this paper is to empirically study the challenges that public organizations face at different stages of the knowledge management process. Furthermore, the paper also aims to identify the enabling factors for successful knowledge management process. To better understand both the challenges and the enablers, we have carried out empirical study that is comprised of five cases from the Finnish public sector

The Role of Data in Crisis Management Models in the Health Care Context

Successful crisis management is consisted of different factors, varying actors and operation environments. Health care system is one of the most critical sectors in societies to operate also in a crisis situation. In the middle of a crisis, digitalization and access to data can have an important role as an enabler. In this paper, the role of data in crisis management models in health care context is studied. The theoretical frame is derived from the crisis management literature review. The study is able to identify the role of data in seven critical elements in crisis management models that need consideration during crisis, namely data has supporting, enabling as well as critical role in technology, strategy, government, adaptation mechanisms, scenarios, security of supply chain and co-operation in crisis management. As a result of the study, different aspects of data in promoting successful crisis management are proposed.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

Knowledge Management and Benchmarking for Health Care System Development Activities

Knowledge management (KM) has a central role in developing health care services both at the organization and at the system level. Benchmarking can be used as a tool in KM especially for knowledge creation and acquisition, but also for knowledge sharing phases of KM process. In the end, the value created by benchmarking is still measured in the knowledge utilization phase. In all of these KM process phases there can be several challenges for successful benchmarking. In this paper, the benefits and challenges of benchmarking as a tool for KM is studied through two empirical, qualitative case studies from the Finnish health care system. Empirical findings suggest that more effective benchmarking can be achieved by strengthening strategy orientation and systematic approach. Strategy-driven benchmark practices ensure that benchmarking is targeted correctly. In turn, systematic approach can be increased through well-planned knowledge acquisition, sharing and documentation, and by harnessing operations in networks as a goal-oriented part of the development of the health care organizations’ competencies and operations.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

co creating digital government service an activity theory perspective

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Digitalization : A Concept Easier to Talk about than to Understand

Many organizations have come to rely on digitalization to solve many issues. Today knowledge is an equal production factor besides the traditional ones; capital, natural resources, and work. Thus, there is an ever-growing need for getting the information in, sorted, and used. Digitalization is widely used phrase with many definitions, quite often case-specifically. We show that the existing definitions are not very precise and through two studies investigating executed digitalization initiatives we point out that the reality does not always respect earlier findings. Through the comparison we present questions to be answered in later research. However, business environments and technologies are often unique and thus not all recent issues are taken into consideration. We take business intelligence (BI) as a framework to draw a picture of organizational processes and to give context for the features to be taken into account when discussing digitalization, ie. technological side and the h uman oriented aspects.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

Digitalization Experiments : Does Support Needed Equal Support Offered

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Notions on Knowledge from Networks : Benchmarking in Public Sector

Today many organizations have come to value knowledge as a production factor. Thus, there is a constant need for getting the information in and sorted. The knowledge is based on the own operation and the knowledge from external sources. Organizations are no islands but rather a part of their ecosystem. This means they need data and information from within but also from outside. One way to acquire this is benchmarking, done in networks, national and international. Organizations are advised to have a process for systematic acquiring, analysing, and disseminating data and information from various sources to gain understanding about their environment. This is needed to support decision-making to achieve organization’s objectives. However, as environments and technologies evolve in a rapid pace, newer ways emerge and not all of these are possible to be tried out. Benchmarking is a way to gather experiences from various directions so that the own decision-making is able to make informed decisions. Benchmarking should be embedded in business processes, so that the full effects thereof may benefit the operation. The paper is based on two studies investigating development schemes in a city operation where benchmarking is a part of the development tools. This paper brings up notions of the city’s way of approaching the organizational development and especially benchmarking, but there are still questions to be answered. Literature on different approaches and findings of these studies are to be combined to form a vision to better match with reality. Various issues like users’ active involvement, and further analysis are needed to fully grasp the big picture. Practitioners can use the approach to assess their current state of activities or planning the organization of benchmarking program.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

Challenges in Public Participation and Collaboration : A Case Study in Finnish Environmental Decision-making

This position paper introduces ongoing research efforts that addresses the ability of different kinds of organizations and multiple individuals to cope together with complex environmental planning and policymaking problems in the Finnish context. The research question “What kind of challenges are there in the collaborative processes of environmental decision-making and how can they be tackled?” is approached from the perspectives of the framework of public participation process and the theory of collaborative governance. We use these theories as analytical tools to evaluate how the elements and phases of collaboration processes are conducted in practice and to identify problems that exist in the collaborative processes. This phenomenon is studied through a single case study of environmental planning case from a medium-sized city located in Finland.publishedVersionPeer reviewe